Gear hunting? What am I missing?

Do all older third gen Tacomas display song information between the gauges like that?

 

Transmission defined normal characteristics for diagnostic and repair purposes. They have WOT numbers too.

That data is solid and can be confirmed. Here is some snapshots of some of my logs from the past (my truck has a different axle and some of this data could be different)
Here is 3 -4 upshift at 38 kmph with 0 throttle



Here is 4-5 upshift at 49 kmph with 3% throttle



here 5-6 upshift @71 kmph with 4 throttle




and here is example of gear hunting.
See the red circle. Dropped 2 gears down from 6 to 4 at 1450 rmps and 72% of the engine load. Then back again to 5th gear. The speed is about 55 mph
As can see, the cycle repeats.

this is how it used to be here. Tunes totally eliminated dropping gears at low rpms/ mid loads.

 

yes. My 2017 does. How does yours display? I’m curious now

 

I refer to the transmission as a lazy teenager. Big hurry to get to sixth gear and just stay their and do nothing else until it absolutely has to. Then why downshift to fifth when you may need fourth. And on second thought how about we wait until you need third. Then it downshifts more than you originally needed. In ECT mode it's still a lazy teenager. Why upshift when you may need to downshift later. So I'll just stay right here just in case. If I have my way this will probably be the last automatic I buy.

 

I was having issues going up hills and steep grades in the mountains. I have the 2.7 and have driven underpowered vehicles the last few years. I'm generally in no hurry but the issue I had was going up grades I would be stuck at 3000rpm until hitting the crest. A few pages back someone suggested shifting to S mode using 4 and 5 going up grades. Today I gave it a try going east from Salt Lake on 80 and it was night and day using the S mode.

 

When I took a test drive in a 2.7 sr auto, I think I made the sales guy sitting next to me a bit nervous as I had to scream the guts out of the truck back up the steep hill to the dealership while keeping up with other traffic. These 2.7 trucks feel like they're tied to a stump going up a hill.

 

if you press the gas pedal down further it will go up to 5000 RPMs. more octane helps too especially in the mountains.

 

good to know. plus elevation does help.

 

Everyone has different expectations and experiences with these. I've had a 2016, 2019, and now a 2023. Never tuned the 2016 TRD OR but did absolutely notice it downshifting more often than it should. Got the 2019 and a friend recommended the KD MAX tune, i was reluctant, but tried it and i will now never go back. Its one of those things that you may have to experience behind the wheel to see / feel the difference. Just the throttle response alone is impressive, not to mention fixing the shift point issues. Find someone in your area that has a tuned truck and give it a test drive. It's definitely not "imagined" or TW induced paranoia. I had not even been on TW before i got my 2019 tuned.

 

My friends 2022 also doesn't have the Media tab in the center dash screen.

My 2017 has Information/Nav/Media/TruckStats/Messages/Settings.

His 2022 only has Information/TruckStats/Messages/Settings

 

When somebody says their truck runs and shifts just fine, believe them. And when somebody says their truck runs and shifts like a POS, believe them.

From experience, if your truck falls into the POS category, I highly recommend getting it tuned. I can only speak for kdmax tunes, and have seen many posts from tuners on their thread that will let you test drive the tune free of charge and will reflash the factory tune if you choose not to purchase their tune. I can’t say if this is true for all their tuners, so be sure to inquire.

I’m sure there are other tunes out there that are good as well.

My truck, on a custom version of the current kdmax tune, runs and shifts perfectly. Every time I drive it I’m amazed how good it is. As I’ve said before, on the factory tune my truck was absolutely miserable.

I’ve got no affiliation with the kdmax group.

 

Not sure if that's a typo but elevation hurts your engine's power output, not help.

 

I came from a 2018 F-150 with the 10 speed transmission. You don't know gear hunting till you drive one of those.

 

Oh yes you do!

 

Mine does both.

Fine in town unloaded.

Loaded while traveling not so much.

 

I always can say how well my tacoma shifts and performs with the stock tune it came with. The truck kicks ass. I've seen what a buddies 2019 was like....I wouldn't be happy either after spending over $40k.

 

Maybe Toyota fixed it or may not be apparent in ‘22 models . It’s most apparent while driving on long inclines or strong headwind. On flat ground you won’t experience it

 

I've got a 22 and it's definitely there. Every day on my way home I pull away from a light that goes directly into a short (300ft before the stop sign at the end) gradual incline. It hurries to get to a higher gear then halfway through that 300 ft to the stop sign it goes "oh shit, I'm in too high of a gear, let me shift down a couple". On flat ground it's fine. Can't wait to get a tune on this thing.

 

I have a 2019 TRD Off Road and I just came home from getting TSB-0092-20 done to my ECU and the shifting and hesitancy is resolved. Totally happy with it and will not be getting tune now. I printed the TSB out and took it into the dealer. The service writer thanked me for bring it in for reference. I was reflashed and on my way in about 30 minutes.

 

This is the part that drove me nuts. Torque Converter solenoid kicks in 3rd on 2016- 2017 model ECU and drops rpms by 200 or so. If you need to go a steep incline from the stop, this thing would mess the acceleratoration up in the worst possible moment.